Releasable attaching means for printing plates and other dies

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to the printing, scoring, perforating and creasing of corrugated cardboard boxes and other flat sheet material in presses, and more particularly to a means for releasably holding the printing and other types of dies formed of rubber, synthetics, wood and metal to the upper, revolving cylinder, wherein the interface between the cylinder and a die comprises minute hooks on one surface and minute loops on the other, preferably of the material commonly known as Velcro or a similar material. Such an arrangement permits the die to be more easily positioned and pressed onto the cylinder and removed.

[72] Inventor Jimmie N. Mashbum Rte. l, Jamestown, N.C. 27282 [2l] Appl. No. 804,952 [22] Filed Mar. 6, 1969 [45] Patented Mar. 9, 1971 54] RELEASABLE ATTACHING MEANS FOR PRllNTING PLATES AND OTHER DIES 3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs. [52] lU.S.Cl lOl/415.1, 29/ 120 [51] InLCl B41f27/06 [50] Field ofSearch lOl/415.1, 378, 375, 376, 379, 382, 382 (MV), 383, 384, 385; 24/204; 12S/(Digest) [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,874,637 2/1959 Grevich 10l/380X 3,128,700 4/1964 Kunetka.... 101/376X 3,308,522 3/1967 Miller 29/120 Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-J. Reed Fisher Attorney-Hunt, Heard and Rhodes ABSTRACT: This invention relates to the printing, scoring, perforating and creasing of corrugated cardboard boxes and other flat sheet material in presses, and more particularly to a means for releasably holding the printing and other types of dies formed of rubber, synthetics, wood and metal to the upper, revolving cylinder, wherein the interface between the cylinder and a die comprises minute hooks on one surface and minute loops on the other, preferably of the material commonly known as Velcro or a similar material. Such an arrangement permits the die to be more easily positioned and pressed onto the cylinder and removed.

Patented March 9, 1971 FIG.

INVENT(')R.

N. MASHBURN BY l JIMMIE RELEASABLE ATTACHHNG MEANS FOR PRlNTlNG PLATES AND OTHER DIES ln the box-making industry, and more particularly in the printing, scoring and creasing of sheet material which is easily crushed and weakened by a pressure normal to the surface, such as corrugated paper and the like, printing and impression dies used which have raised elements cut onto the front surface thereof and are generally mounted on some type of suitable backing member which in turn is mechanically fastened to the upper revolving cylinder, generally wooden, by some appropriate means such as by stapling or glueing. Such a means of attachment is not entirely satisfactory, because the dies must be frequently changed and it is considerably difficult to remove the die from the cylinder. Moreover, it is very difficult to orient or position the printing die on the cylinder correctly `the first time, and generally some adjustment is necessary.

Printing and other type dies attached inthe above described.

manner are thus veryl cumbersome, and the setup for a die of this nature is exceedingly time consuming.

Other means have been developed lately wherein rubber printing dies are removably secured on the backing member by means of a suitable pressure-sensitive adhesive, however this, too, has not been entirely satisfactory in that the pressure-sensitive adhesive is generally secured only to one of either the plate or the cylinder. Moreover, the pressure-sensitive adhesive limits the number of times dies may be positioned and removed before the adhesive wears out. The Sands U.S. Pat. No. 2,229,133is exemplary of such an arrangement wherein rubber plates llt) have a backing of adhesive material for attachment to the printing cylinder. The permanently tacky adhesive is applied to the rear of the rubber plates, for attachment to the metal cylinder and therefore part of the adhesive material is left on the cylinder surface when the plate is removed.

The present invention, on the other hand, is directed to a new and novel combination of a printing, scoring, creasing, or perforating die releasably mounted on a cylinder, whether the cylinder be metallic or wooden. The present combination utilizes a fastening material commonly known as Velcro or a similar fastener, primarily used as a closing means or fastener for garments and comprises a pair of adjoining pieces of velvetlike fabric, one of which contains a great number of minute hooks and the other a similarly large number of minute loops. One of said pieces of fabric is secured to the surface of the cylinder and the other is applied to the rear surface of the die. The die then is merelypressed onto the cylinder where the Velcro material holds the die or plate in its proper position until it is removed by a slight force normal to the surface of the cylinder. However, the fastening material is strong in withstanding shear forces as a result of the press operation. The material can be used over and over again significantly longer than permanently tacky adhesive may be used. During operation, the longer the die is in position, the tighter becomes the fastening bond between the two members.

it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide in a box-making machine a new and novel combination cylinder and die having an improved fastening means therebetween.

lt is another object of the invention to provide in a box-making machine a combination die and cylinder wherein the die may be easily adjusted after its initial emplacement on the cylinder.

It is still a further and more specific object of the invention to provide in a box-making machine an improved combination die and cylinder wherein the interface between the two members comprises a fastening material commonly known as Velcro.

These and several other objects of the invention will become apparent upon a closer examination of the following specification and drawings, in which:

FlG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cylinder and die attached thereto according to the present invention;

PHG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a portion of the cylinder and die as illustrated in FIG. 1.

For the purposes of the specification, the invention is illus trated as a fastening means between a printing cylinder and printing plate. It is to be recognized that cylinders and dies for other operations such as scoring, creasing and perforating on the same machine may utilize the same type of fastening member.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a printing cylinder l0 having substantially the entire peripheral surface thereof covered with a sheet 12 of fastening material containing minute loops 14, preferably of the material commonly known as Velcro. Fastening material 12 is secured to cylinder l0 by any appropriate, substantially permanent manner such as by glueing, stapling, etc., while leaving the loops 14 on the outer, exposed surface.

Printing plate 16 includes on the rear surface thereof a backing sheet 18 including the other of said hooks 20 and is secured to said printing cylinder l0 by merely pressing the printing plate 16 onto the sheet of fastening material 12 so that the hooks 20 on sheet 18 engage the loops 14 on sheet l2 to securely fasten the plate 16 to cylinder 10. For best results, as described above, it is preferable that fastening sheet 12 contain the loops i4 and backing sheet 18 be provided with the hooks 20. The tangential force exerted by the boxes on rotating plate 16 tends to pull plate 18 circumferentially around the printing cylinder 10, and according to the design of the Velcro fastener, the hooks become more firmly pressed into the sheet containing the loops as the printing occurs thus resisting such tangential stress. The arrangement described above may be reversed so that hooks 20 are arranged on cylindrical surface 10 and loops 14 arranged on the rear plate 16 while still obtaining substantially4 satisfactory results, and the invention is not to be limited by the relative placement of the hooks and loops.

Hooks 14 are commonly formed by splitting relatively rigid, elongated, but tiny plastic loops at the outer end thereof forming hooks adjacent the bight, so that when pressed into the intertangled fibrous loops 20 in sheet 1.8, the hooks become entangled with the loops. Due to the great number of hooks and loops, there is thus formed a secure connection having tremendous tenacity against shear or tangential force thus preventing accidental disengagement therebetween. However, the materials can be separated readily when plate lo is pulled in a direction normal to cylinder l0 as shown in FIG. 2.

There is thus shown the combination of a printing plate and printing cylinder including an improved fastening bond between the two members which is sufficiently secure to prevent accidental removal of the plate from the cylinder. Moreover, the printing plate may be easily removed from the cylinder entirely or loosened slightly therefrom for repositioning the plate by a relatively weak force exerted in a direction normal to the surface of the cylinder. The saine objects and advantages are achieved in fastening other dies such as scoring, creasing and perforating dies, to the cylinder of a press.

Although the specification indicates a specific embodiment of the invention, it is to be recognized that various changes and modifications may be made while remaining within the scope of the invention. Therefore, this invention is to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and the reasonably equivalent structures to those defined therein.

I claim:

1. In a box-making machine, the combination comprising:

a. a cylinder adapted to receive at least one die on the peripheral surface thereof;

b. a die adapted to receive printing indicia and other raised elements on the front surface thereof;

c. a first sheet of fastening material secured to said cylinder;

d. a second sheet of fastening material secured to the rear surface of said die;

e. one of said sheets containing minute hook elements and the other containing minute loop elements, said hook elements and said loop elements being positioned throughout the surface area of each sheet and on opposing surfaces thereof; and

cylinder.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said first sheet contains said loop elements and said second sheet contains said hook elements. 

1. In a box-making machine, the combination comprising: a. a cylinder adapted to receive at least one die on the peripheral surface thereof; b. a die adapted to receive printing indicia and other raised elements on the front surface thereof; c. a first sheet of fastening material secured to said cylinder; d. a second sheet of fastening material secured to the rear surface of said die; e. one of said sheets containing minute hook elements and the other containing minute loop elements, said hook elements and said loop elements being positioned throughout the surface area of each sheet and on opposing surfaces thereof; and f. said sheets being pressed together with said hooks and loops in engagement with each other to secure said die to said printing cylinder.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said first sheet covers substantially the entire peripheral surface of said cylinder.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said first sheet contains said loop elements and said second sheet contains said hook elements. 